i never believed in 2012
by billiespiper
Summary: The world ends with a bang and a whimper, not a storybook ending at all / The world ends in a zombie apocalypse.


It's the end, and the only thing Beck can manage to find in his brain is;

_The Mayans lied._

::

He thinks the first time something goes wrong is a Thursday.

The temperature has risen to a steady 105 degrees, and the constant hum of air conditioners rings throughout Hollywood Arts quietly. Beads of sweat drip down faces, and skin sticks to plastic chairs. Inside Sikowitz's classroom, two students are on stage. But Beck's not really paying attention to them, more to his girlfriend in the seat next to him. She's digging her scissors through a sheet of construction paper, ignoring the dirty looks sent her way. She chopchopchops through pink, red, purple and blue, leaving a litter of confetti at her feet. Jade's eyes are squinting in frustration, and she swipes away a strand of hair from her forehead.

"Babe... babe, what are you doing?" He whispers to her when Sikowitz's back is turned. She gives him one of those glares meant to send shivers down his spine. But Beck's dated Jade for two years, and he knows how to get an answer.

"What the fuck does it _look_ like I'm doing, idiot?" She hisses through clenched teeth. Her voice is slightly breathless, energy spent on making ribbons of paper.

"It _looks_ like you're mutilating all of our classroom supplies." He lets his hand dart out, cautiously, to snatch the scissors away from her. Jade stares him down again, but lets the topic drop and continues to write in her notebook.

Silence settles over the classroom as the scene ends and the applause dies out. Everyone is shifting awkwardly in their seats. There's some kind of unsettling feeling cast over the students, and even Sikowitz can't find something to say.

"Cat, I want you to perform-" He begins to speak up, pointing to the redhead and then to the stage, but the ground beneath them shakes. It's an awful tremor, chairs falling over with teens still in them. Beck grabs Jade's hand in an act of desperation. Her face remains expressionless, but he can feel her heart beat racing faster and faster against the thin skin of her wrist.

"Earthquake!" Cat screams, her voice and octave higher than usual (and that's saying something). Everyone's racing to find a doorway to stand in, and the floor is ripping and jerking and _oh god_ nobody can concentrate on anything.

Across the room, Andre grabs Tori and pulls her into the hallway, situating her next to him on the mantle of the janitor's closet. She doesn't speak, but her eyes are as wide as dinner plates (_and the stars are gone_). Andre presses his lips into her hair and murmurs assurances against her head.

Robbie's standing next to his locker when it hits. His voice is hushed as he fights half-heartedly with Rex. Suddenly the puppet (_not a puppet, not a puppet_) is torn from his hand, scattering halfway across the locker block.

"REX!" Robbie screams, making a motion to run after him, but Cat's latching her bright yellow nails deep into his arms.

"Robbie, we gotta go. Gotta- gotta, come _on_!" She screeches, tears sliding down her cheeks and into her mouth. When he kisses her, spontaneous and random (_they're gonna die, he has to do this_), she tastes like salt.

As soon as it starts, it's over. Jade's still in Beck's arms, Andre's still telling Tori it's _going to be okay_ and Robbie's lips are still meshed against Cat's.

_It's alright. It's okay. It's all over, just another California earthquake._

_It's not._

::

They find Sikowitz two days later. Whispers fill the hallways as rumors spread about how _the paramedics found him with his eyes pure red_ and _he was foaming at the mouth, his blood as cold as ice._

Nobody knows what happened.

Everybody knows it's bad.

::

At lunch, the silence is bone chilling. Jade's fingers are twined with Beck's beneath the table [_and her nails are leaving angry red welts, but he kind of likes the pain_]. Cat's the first one to break the silence.

As always.

"I wonder if... Did- maybe, you know? Did it hurt? Whatever happened?"

Jade wants to snap, wants to tell her to shut up, just shut up, but she doesn't.

They fall into silence again, Cat's question still hanging above their heads.

::

Just when normality is beginning to return, the strings keeping everyone together break.

Tori goes to see Lane -stress counseling, nerves, college- on a Monday. It's third period and the hallways are clear of students.

She taps anxiously on the glass window, waiting for the door to open. It doesn't.

She knocks again, her sharp knuckles colliding with wood this time. The skin on her hand is stretched tight, like she bought her body two sizes too small.

Still, there's silence in the guidance counselor's office. Slowly, she twists the knob, surprised to find it open, and walks in.

"Lane, I-"

Oh, god.

Oh fuck.

His eyelids are still halfway open, but his iris isn't visible anymore. It's just a sea of red with a tiny pupil in the middle. Lane's mouth hangs slack, and Tori can see rows of teeth -way more than a human should have. 2,4,6,8- sharp, sharp teeth designed to tear into flesh. His skin is blacker than coal, and looks burnt. It feels like there's some weight pressing onto her shoulders.

She tries to blink back stars.

Tori collapses right next to Lane, head falling on his chest.

::

School is cancelled the next day.

There's a convention at a hotel down the street from Andre. He claims that the world's best scientists and doctors arrived.

They left perplexed and unsatisfied.

::

The energy is sucked from Cat, and she lies limp on Jade's bed. Her head is throbbing, and she can't pick out one thought. Next to her, Tori's muttering to herself, running her hands through her hair and cringing when chunks fall out. Robbie's breathing is jagged, and he keeps running a nail up and down Rex's cheeks, trying to concentrate on something _anything_ besides the television blaring in front of him.

Beck, Jade and Andre sit right near it, eyes scanning the image. The newswoman looks tired, bags under her eyes. Her knuckles are white around the microphone, jaw clenched tight.

She licks her lips and begins speaking.

"Two teachers at a school in Hollywood found dead within the week. The cause of death? Unknown. Eyewitnesses say that the bodies were cold, and there was no seen reason for-"

The screen goes black.

Cat screams as the lights click off. Beck can feel his circulation cut off as Jade wraps her fingers around his.

Guttural, low, moans emit from around them. He can hear their heartbeats pick up. A bang at the door. A high pitched cry, unnaturally loud and definitely not human.

Andre and Robbie slam a bookcase against the door, and it's shaking and _shit_.

Cat screams and screams until Jade slaps her.

Suddenly, there's silence.

"What _was_ that?" Tori asks, voice quivering. "What the _fuck_ was that?"

Her question goes unanswered, too.

::

They live in fear.

Two more die, two more become zombies. You can hear them transforming, out on the pavement. Shrill, animal-like screams, the slam of a body thrashing against the ground, and then silence. Until they rise again, that is.

You can see them also. Razor sharp teeth, ripped clothing, glazed eyes. Nobody dares leave their homes. One passes by Robbie's front door. There's a gaping hole in his cheek and his chest, black blood still pumping, oozing out.

T.V.'s stop working first. Then computers. Lights, and running water.

::

It's dark and freezing. The air is stale on Beck's tongue. They know this is the end. They know that today is the last day, there will be no sunrise for them.

All together in Tori's house [it just feels right], there is no sound, with the exception of Cat's occasional sniff and the drip-drop of a leaking light fixture. The floor beneath them is damp, cold on their bare feet.

How did this happen? Two weeks ago, the world wasn't ending.

Two weeks ago, they were all happy.

Another bang resounds on the door, like at Jade's house. But there's more this time. No bookcase will hold back them back. They sit on the couch, feet drawn up and eyes shut tight, just waiting.

For what? For death or rebirth?

The door falls down. Cat lets an eyelid pop open. Her scream is hoarse, devoid of emotion. Robbie hugs Cat tight to him _shutupshutupshutupshutup_.

Andre's hand is ripped from Tori's, and when she shouts his name, it sounds like a prayer. Gurgling and human screams ring through the room.

[just like that, piano-man is gone]

They sit in a circle, trying to block out the sound of Andre begging, pleading.

Robbie's next. Cat cries and cries, tears streaming down her face like a river. The walls are waterstained and closing in and she can't breathe and-

[jew-fro and dummy]

Beck still has his eyes closed, arms wrapped tight around Jade (because _dammit_ if she dies, he's going first).

He can feel her tremble beneath him, so he brings her tighter and tighter-

"HELP!"

Jade thrashes in his arms, trying to get free, to save her best friend.

"You _can't_, Jade, you _can't_." Oh, god. She's crying. Beck hasn't seen Jade cry for six months, but salt stains his flannel shirt and finally, when things are still, it's only JadeBeckTori left.

They can't see. Can't see where the zombies are. But they can hear. Hear their limp, one leg longer than the other. Hear the obnoxious chew as they try to clean human flesh out of their teeth (a little redhead, a nerd and a beautiful musician).

Tori wonders who's next. She knows it's her, knows that she has to die so the fairytale ending will be complete, and Jade&Beck will die together.

But she's not. Surprisingly, it's all of them. All at once.

Tendon and muscle is exposed as they rip into Beck's arm. He clenches his teeth tight -can't scream, not now- and keeps one hand laced with Jade's, the other with Tori's.

One harmonious shriek (two, really, but don't their voices sound so _lovely_ together?) and his girls are gone.

Black spots cloud his vision, pain fires up through his body.

The only thing he thinks is; _it's two years too early._

::

**a/n**: okay, let's ignore the fact that the end is a total fail, shall we? i rushed it waaaayyyy too much, i know. and there are like, a bajillion grammar mistakes in here, but i'm sick, okay? a little sympathy would be nice :)

do you get the end? because, yanno, the world is supposed to end in 2012 (not that i believe that)?

anyway, hope you enjoyed :D PM if you were confused in any way.

p.s, i totally abused italics D: muh bad.


End file.
